Allmendinger wants to run Le Mans

AJ Allmendinger, whose fulltime job is wheeling the No. 47 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, co-drove the No. 60 Honda Ligier Prototype in the Rolex 24 At Daytona Saturday and Sunday.

Allmendinger has been doing the sports-car thing for more than 10 years with IMSA team owner Michael Shank.

Michael Shank Racing won the 2012 Rolex 24 with Allmendinger behind the wheel of the Prototype at the checkered flag.

Allmendinger can compete the 24-hour race because it starts before the NASCAR season begins. There is no conflict with his NASCAR schedule.

Allmendinger is one of those guys who can drive just about anything with wheels. Back in December, he competed at Daytona International Speedway in a go-kart.

The one race on Allmendinger’s bucket list is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. The 34-year-old driver may get his chance this year.

“If AJ can find a way to get to Le Mans, we’ll make it work from our end,” Shank told NASCAR This Week. “He has been with me many years. I would love to see it happen.”

“It sounds fun to talk about it, but the reality is, AJ has a lot of (NASCAR) sponsor programs built around him.”

The Le Mans 24 program will be staged on a NASCAR Cup Series off week, June 14-18. NASCAR races at Michigan on June 12 and goes to Sonoma June 26.

“Le Mans to me is that last prestigious race I want to compete in,” Allmendinger said. “It would be awesome to run that race. Le Mans, all those years I have watched it on TV, it looks so awesome.”

“I would do it in a heartbeat,” he added. “If the stars aligned and the right people said, ‘You can go do this,’ I’d jump at the chance.”